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County profile Louisiana Metropolitan HRSA MUA/P

Black health in Orleans County, Louisiana

218,000

Black residents (ACS)

57.83%

Of county population

$38,400

Median household income, Black

10.80%

Uninsured, Black residents

Orleans Parish (New Orleans) is ~58% Black, with roughly 218,000 Black residents. The post-Katrina reconstruction of the city's health system closed Charity Hospital, the state's level-I trauma centre and the safety net for the city's uninsured Black population, and replaced it in 2015 with the University Medical Center New Orleans, operated by LCMC Health. Tulane University and LSU Health New Orleans are the academic medicine anchors; both operate clinics embedded in the city's federally qualified health centres.

The Louisiana Department of Health's Maternal Mortality Review identifies Orleans Parish as one of the higher-rate parishes in a state with the nation's highest Black maternal mortality. Ochsner Health operates the state's largest obstetric practice; its Baby Cafe program provides free lactation support to Medicaid patients across the metro area.

Headline outcomes

Race-stratified county-level figures pulled from CDC WONDER small-area estimates, the annual County Health Rankings, and the CDC NVSS state/county life tables. County values with cell counts below CDC suppression thresholds are marked as data pending.

Life expectancy (Black)

72.30 yrs

At birth, CDC NVSS Small-Area LE

Infant mortality (Black)

12.60

Per 1,000 live births, CDC WONDER

CVD mortality (Black)

392.50

Age-adjusted per 100k, CDC WONDER I00-I99

County Health Rankings

#50

Overall rank in Louisiana (lower = better)

HRSA Medically Underserved Area / Population HPSA: Primary Care HPSA: Mental Health

Policy context in Orleans

Louisiana has adopted Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, which gives low-income Black adults in this county a direct pathway to primary-care and prescription coverage. Medicaid does not cover doula services in this state. Postpartum Medicaid coverage extends for 12 months after delivery — the federal recommended standard, in place here.

Where to get help in Orleans

Find Black health providers & resources in Orleans

Black clinicians in Orleans

Directory filtered to this county & state

Federally Qualified Health Centers

Sliding-scale FQHCs across Louisiana

Crisis & support resources

988, postpartum helplines, Black-serving crisis lines

Louisiana state profile

Statewide context, Medicaid policy, all 10 health facets

References & primary sources

  1. Demographics: US Census ACS 5-year 2019–2023, Tables B03002 (race), B01003 (total population), S1903 (median income), B27010B (uninsured by race).
  2. Mortality and life expectancy: CDC WONDER county-level Multiple Cause of Death and Underlying Cause of Death, pooled 2020–2022; CDC NVSS Small-Area Life Expectancy Estimates, 2016–2020 release.
  3. County Health Rankings: University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute & Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2024 release.
  4. HRSA shortage-area designations: HRSA HPSA Find and MUA/P Find, current as of 2025.
  5. Rural-Urban Continuum Codes: USDA Economic Research Service, 2023 release.

Data refreshed:

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